“Taco Bell is set to expand the use of artificial intelligence voice technology in its drive-thrus to hundreds of US locations by the end of this year, parent company Yum! Brands said Wednesday.

The move means that when users pull up to place their order at a Taco Bell, there’s a good chance they will be talking to a computer, rather than a human employee, on the other end.”

From CNN.

“A robotic truck equipped with a 105-ft (32-m) telescopic boom arm has just journeyed from Australia to Florida. Now the construction robot will get busy churning out up to 10 houses in a bid to become the employee of choice for building entire communities.

The truck and its accompanying brick-laying arm is known as the Hadrian X and has been developed by robotics company FBR, which first announced its prototype in 2015. That machine could complete a full-sized house in two days. Last year, FBR (which used to stand for Fastbrick Robotics), showed off the new Hadrian X which, at top speed, could stack 500 USA-format masonry blocks per hour.”

From New Atlas.

“In its warehouses, Asda uses a system from Swiss automation firm Swisslog and Norway’s AutoStore. In the US, Walmart has been automating parts of its supply chain using robotics from an American company called Symbotic.

Back in Luton, Ocado has taken its automation process to a higher level.

The robots which zoom around the grid, now bring items to robotic arms, which reach out and grab what they need for the customer’s shop.

Bags of rice, boxes of tea, packets of crumpets are all grabbed by the arms using a suction cup on the end.”

From BBC.

“Chronic worker shortages have led many companies to invest in machines to do some of the work they can’t find people to do. They’ve also been training the workers they do have to use advanced technology so they can produce more with less.

The result has been an unexpected productivity boom.”

From Associated Press.